Journal lubricator



. 1,470,739 I 'T. J. HOLMES JOURNAL LUBRICATOR Filed Aug. 50. ,1921

Patented Get. 15,. 1923.

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To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J.

which the following is a specification. 5

The present improvementsliavefbeen madeparticularly in yiew of the can ournal 11k bricat ng art and-their principal object ls the provision of means for effectively maintaining the desired quantityof lub-rIcant on the journal. An important ob ect is to pro- Vide means whereby a quantity of substan tially. thick and heavy grease may be'used instead of the fluid oils ordinarily employed,

such: grease being far more. advantageous, than: the oil in suchheavy work. It is also; an object. to attain these results. by simple provide a high means, andbv means which factor of safety against'neglect. In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a fragmentary medial] vertical sectional View of a car journal unit, the journal and 7 its bearing being in full side view and my improved lubricating device being in medial verticallongitudinal section as it appears/in operative position; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional] view on the line '22 of Fig.1; and Fig.

3 is a sectional top view wit-h the journal and its bearing partly broken away.

The journal box having a door 11, the

journal 12 and its bearing block or member 13 are shown as of the usual construction.

Normally beneath the journal 12.and extending substantially from end to end thereof is the friction piece 15, which is of metal and suitably of cast brass-or bronze. It has laterally extended ears 16 provided with integral bosses 17 adapted to accommodate the coiled springs 18 respectively, which springs are held in position at their lower ends upon the base plate19 by the bosses 20 piece and the base plate, the friction piece being thus yieldingly held in frictional conextending along the side edges of the fric tion piece while the cros'ssurfaces 23 extend along the end edges thereof. Thisannular surface 2228 conforms to the shape of the thereon, pins 21 projecting from the bosses maintaining the springs upon the friction therewith. v 1 Thefriction piece.15 has a depression 25' inits" upper surface which depression is defined by the friction sui facesj22-23 and forms asubstantially shallowp'ocket adaptfriction piece is provided with a hole at 26 whichiopens into thede'pr'ession 25,-and leading from this hole 26 and rigidly secured to the friction piece is a flexible pipe 27 which extends downwarditherefrom and bends forward and'is provided at its free endwith an outwardly extending ring I 30,-shown as a hexagonal; nut, which maintains; the open 7, ournal andcmakes a close frictional fit i a citizen of theUnitedgstatespand aresident of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, have in'-" 5 vented certain" new and useful Improve-- ments Relatingta J ournal luubricators, of

' ed to containa quantityof lubricant. The

end 0f the pipe 27 somewhatiabovethe bot tom of the; journal box and prevents the bottom layeir of "the lubricant, likely to contain dirt, froni'enter'ing the pipe. A screen 31 covers the pipe opening and prevents objectionable 3 foreign substan'ces from entering "the-pipe; 4

' .According'to' these nal boXlO may be-supplied with a consid erablei quantity of rather'heavy grease or improvements the-jour' I grease andoil mixed,fson1e ofthegrease.

preferablybeing applied to the pocket 25 when'the device 1s put into operation for the firstatirne. The friction piece may simply'be pressed downward for this purpose. 7 The'rotation of the journal 12 tends to cause a vacuum in the pocket 25 and in the as i pipe 27 with the result that the lubricant is drawn throughithe pipe 27 into the pocket 25 and thus into contact with the journal. The presence of the annular surfaces22 and 23not only induces this suction action but these surfaces act to limit the amount of lubricant applied to the journal, with the result that only a thin filament of the lubricant coats the journal as it turns toward 7 the bearing member as 13. l

Since the friction surfaces 22 and 23 fit the journal accurately (a little wear making this fit substantially perfect) the clubricantin the pocket 25. and pipe 27fis ordinarily held there by external air pressure evenwhen the car remains idle for a long i time. The seal betweenthe surfaces 2223 L and the journal may lie-broken, however,

R as at times of inspection, or in the'case of foreign matter whichimight temporarily separate'the parts,and to preserve the sup ply of lubricant in such case I provide the r automatic valve 33 comprising a lightweight disc-having a conical projection 34;

' adaptedto center it, the plate being, adapted to rise as the lubricant is drawn upward for use and to seat itself and close'the passageway when the suction is discontinued.

v V A retaining plate 35 having projections 36 i holds the valve plate 33in an enlargement r of the hole 26' as shown. I

Should a supply of greasebe wanting at a particular time and place a quantity "of the usual oil may be supplied'to the device for use in the manner described, but

even if the supply of grease in the bottom of the boX were permitted to remain ex- .hausted for a very considerable period the amount of grease in thepipe 27 and in thepocket 25 would keep the journal 111- bricated as usual, since a relatively "small quantity offthe heavy grease is-eifective for an amazingly large mileage of the car. When the device is used in connection 'with the ordinary journal box it will be installed as a permanentpart'ofthe structure but with some forms of box itmay be positioned or removed; at any time.

I contemplate as being within these improvements various departures from what i is specifically herein illustrated and described, as indicated in theappended claims. I claim: 7 1. The combination of a car journal, a bearing on the upper side of'the journal a journal box substantially surrounding the journal and adapted to contain a material quantity of lubricant below the journal, a

friction piece having a continuous friction surface substantially conforming to the bear- 'ing surface of the journal to be lubricated ;ing in'the depressed portion of said friction piece, the journal'box forming a 're-' ceptacle for lubricant below said friction piece, flexible pipe means extending from the, 'openingin said friction piece into the lower'port-ion'of thejournal-box, and means for yieldingly holding the friction piece. in

engagement with the journal.

2. The combination of claim 1 hereof including alsoan automatic valve comprising a light-weight plate and a seat on which 7 the plate rests and from which-it may rise for controllingthe'fiow of lubricant through saidpipe means in one d1rect1on, said valve being adapted to open when the lubricant flows toward the friction piece and to close when it tends to flow in the opposite direction. v

THOMAS J; HOLMES 

